A Very Strange Valentine's Day Indeed
by magdalena2122
Summary: Hermione recieves a valentine and refuses to open it. Thus, she is stalked by some very persistent candy hearts. A very strange Valentine's Day indeed. Written for the 2008 Granger Enchanted Valentine Challenge at Pure Arrogance.


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter universe, nor do I claim to. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Hermione Granger stared at the envelope in front of her. It was red, yet it was much smaller than the envelope that would contain a Howler. That could only mean one thing, on the morning of Valentine's Day. It had to be a valentine.

Quickly, she glanced around at the boys sitting around her. Harry and Ron were stuffing their faces furiously, in a hurry to get a bit of Quidditch practice in before they had Transfiguration. Neville was reading, Dean and Seamus were going over their homework, and the only other people nearby were Lavender and Parvati. Nobody seemed to have noticed the small red envelope that was vexing Hermione so. Thus, she surmised, the valentine was not from any of these people.

So who, if not one of her fellow Gryffindors, had sent it? Hermione wracked her brain, trying to come up with a logical answer. Could it possibly be Viktor? Though they had remained in contact, it wasn't particularly romantic, so that was doubtful. Could it be one of the Ravenclaws, or even a Hufflepuff? She couldn't remember any boys of another house expressing any interest in her. Really, outside of Viktor, she couldn't remember _any_ boys expressing any interest in her. A quick sweep of the Great Hall confirmed her suspicion that nobody was watching her, waiting for her to open the card.

She sighed as she stood up, and stuffed the envelope into her bag, unopened. "Well, I'm off to the library," she announced. Ron and Harry merely grunted in acknowledgement. Hermione turned her eyes skyward and marched purposefully out of the Great Hall.

If she had dared let her eyes wander over to the Slytherin table, however, she would have noticed a certain young man with blond hair and a pale, pointed face, _had_ in fact been sneaking glances at her throughout breakfast, anticipating her reaction to the contents of the small red envelope.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A brief look of disappointment crossed Draco Malfoy's face as he watched Hermione exit the Great Hall without opening her valentine. The look was rapidly replaced, however, by an expression of steely determination. _Obviously, I'm going to have to take it up a step_, he thought to himself.

Without a word to his housemates, he rose from the table and followed Hermione out of the Great Hall. Minutes later, he stood behind a large bookshelf, quietly watching her situate herself at a table. Smirking, he pulled a handful of small candy hearts out of his pocket. He had originally taken them from a large bowl at breakfast as his sugar fix for the day, but he had come up with a much better use for them. He selected a green heart from the assortment, and tapped it with his wand, changing the message on it. With another flick of his wand, he charmed it to levitate over to where Hermione was sitting, and the candy heart dropped unceremoniously onto the book in front of her.

As Draco waited, a million thoughts flitted through his mind. First and foremost, he was trying to figure out why exactly he was doing this. To say that his feelings towards one Hermione Granger were complicated would be a severe understatement. If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, he would admit that he both loved and hated the girl. Hating her wasn't hard, it came with being a Malfoy. He was a pureblood, and she was a Mudblood, it was that simple.

But loving her… Loving her was what made it all so confusing. She was at the top of their class, better than him at almost everything. How could that be, when she was of impure heritage? Weren't purebloods supposed to be better? Furthermore, she was the only girl, only person at all actually, who had the gall to stand up to him. When she had hit him in the face back in third year, it had rocked his world. The girl was a firecracker, that much was for sure.

Yet another part of him relished the idea of courting a girl who was the polar opposite of the type of girl his father wished to see him with. Draco's relationship with his father could be called detached on a good day, and non-existent on a bad one. On some level, he supposed that being attracted to Hermione was his way of getting back at his father for not being more involved.

His feelings for her were complicated indeed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Hermione's frustrations with the morning were mounting quickly. She was trying to read peacefully, but she kept being interrupted by the arrival of flying candy hearts, all bearing the same infuriating message: "Open it."

She assumed they referred to the valentine. She, of course, ignored them. She was not the type of girl to take orders from airborne candy.

"That's quite the pile of candy hearts you have there, Hermione," came a voice from over her shoulder.

Hermione craned her neck to see who was talking to her. "Oh! Hello Jessie. Yes, it _is_ quite the pile. They keep appearing, and it's getting rather annoying," she responded to the Hufflepuff girl.

Jessie pulled up a chair to join Hermione at the table. "Mind if I take a few off of your hands?" Hermione shrugged and pushed the pile towards the other girl. "Do these _all_ say the same thing? Open it? What does that mean?"

"Haven't the faintest," Hermione answered. "Goodness, look at the time! We'd better get going to Transfiguration!" She began packing her belongings away in her bag, and spied the vile red envelope as she did so. She glared at it as she covered it up with the book she had been reading.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, except for the fact that she continued receiving the little candy hearts. Eventually, she started taking them to the washroom in between classes to set them on fire.

She was not prepared for the sight that met her as she entered the Great Hall for supper that night. Her usual spot between Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table was covered with hundreds, quite possibly thousands, of those blasted little hearts.

"What's this all about?" Ginny asked as Hermione approached the table.

Sighing, Hermione prepared to tell Ginny the whole story, since she knew there was little point in trying to lie to the girl. "Well, I got a valentine in the post this morning, but I didn't open it. Since then, I've been stalked by these stupid little candy hearts all day. They all say the same thing: 'Open it.'"

"So why don't you open it?" Ginny questioned.

"I don't know."

Ginny gave the girl a knowing smile. "Are you afraid of what might be inside?"

"No."

"I don't believe you."

Hermione scrunched up her face at Ginny. "If you're so game, why don't you open it?" she asked, pulling the red envelope out of her school bag.

"Thanks, I thought you'd never ask," Ginny said, taking the envelope from Hermione's outstretched hand. She opened the envelope and pulled the card out. She smiled as she read it, and then slipped it back into the envelope. "Would you like to read your valentine? It doesn't bite."

"Fine, give it here," Hermione said exasperatedly. She took the valentine back, and slowly unsheathed the card from the envelope. It was a plain white card, with only the name "Hermione" scrawled across the front. She held her breath as she opened the card. Inside was a quote. "If I know what love is, it is because of you." – Herman Hesse.

Hermione looked back up at Ginny. Ginny smiled and said, "Looks like you've got yourself a secret admirer."

"Looks like it. But who?" Hermione asked.

Ginny looked around the Great Hall. "Without a signature, it could hypothetically be anybody. But I only see one person watching you, waiting to see your reaction."

Hermione glanced around just as she had done that morning. "But I don't see anybody," she exclaimed.

"Where are you looking?" Ginny asked.

"Everywhere! I've checked our table, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff!"

Ginny laughed and said, "You're missing a table, dear."

Hermione looked at her friend disbelievingly. "Certainly you don't mean the teachers' table?"

"No. I mean the Slytherin table."

Hermione swallowed, and willed herself to look over at the Slytherin table. None other than Draco Malfoy was watching her. "Oh," she responded. With that, she grabbed her bag, and hurried out of the Great Hall.

She had only made it up the first flight of stairs when she heard a voice behind her. "Hey Granger, wait a second!" She slowed her pace, and turned around. Draco Malfoy was quickly catching up to her.

She steeled herself. "Yes, Malfoy? What can I help you with?" she asked in a steady voice.

"I just wanted to wish you a happy Valentine's Day, Granger," he responded, falling into step with her.

"And what makes you think that I want to hear that from you?"

"Nothing, I suppose. But I wanted to say it to you all the same," he said, reaching for her hand.

Hermione blushed. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Malfoy."

Draco smiled as he brought Hermione's hand up to his lips.

It was a very strange, but very happy Valentine's Day indeed.


End file.
